Weighing and bag filling mecahnism



Aug. 10, 1937. A. G. CARLSON WEIGHING AND BAG FILLING MECHANISM Filed Nov. 17, 1934 4 Sheets-Sheet l Aug. 10, 1937. A. G. CARLSON WEIGHING AND BAGVFILLING MECHANISM Filed Nov. 17, 1954 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 l Il W Aug 10, 11937- A. G. CARLSON 2,089,534

WEIGHING AND BAG FILLING MEGHANISM Filed Nov. 17, 1934 n 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 fwfzlff ddoZp/Z G Carbon',

Aug. 10, 193.7.

A. G. CARLSON wEIGHINeAND BAG FILLING MECHANISM Filed Nov. 17, 1934 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Patented Aug. 10j, 1937 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 1 Claim.

The invention relates to weighing machines and has particular reference to a machine for weighing cement and like materials.

An object of the invention is to provide combined weighing and bag lling apparatus that will rst weigh a predetermined' quantity of material and then discharge the said material to means having operation for eilicently filling a bag or other container without any loss of the material.

Another object of the inventionl is to provide improved weighing and bag filling mechanism which will materially improve the accuracy roi weighing required for these operations. In the structure contemplated by the invention the weighing device weighs a predetermined quantity of material while a bag '1s being filled and which then holds the material so weighed until the nlled bag is removed and replaced by an empty bag, when the operator by actuating a switch can rotate the weighing receptacle, causing the material to be delivered to the bag lling means,` the weighing receptacle automatically returning to original position where another quantity is weighed and the cycle is repeated.

A further object is to provide a machine for performing the functions above described which will be simple in construction, economical to manuacture, and which will operate emciently.

With these and various other objects in Viewy the invention may consistuof certain novel features of construction and operation, as will be more fully described andparticularly pointed out in the specication, drawings and claim appended hereto.

in the drawings which illustrate an embodiment of the invention and wherein like reference characters are used to designate like parts- Figure i is a vertical sectional view through a weighing and bag llin'g machine embodying the features of the present invention;

Figure 2 is a front elevational View, parts being shown in section of lthe machine of Figure 1, with the bag holder in vertical position;

, Figure 3 is a detail plan view of the weighing mechanism;

Figure 4 is a vertical sectional View taken substantially along the longitudinal center or thel Weighing mechanism of Figure 3;

Figure 5 is a transverse vertical sectional view taken substantially along `the line 5L5 of Figure 3;

Figure 6 is a detail sectional view showing the /feeder plate;

Figure 10 is a plan view showing the improved closure means for the discharge port of the feeder to the weighing bucket; and

Figure li is a wiring diagram showing the electrical connections for the weighing mechanism.-

Referring to the drawings, particularly Figures 1 and 2, the structure o the invention is shown as supported within an enclosure having side walls it and a top wall ll which suitably connects with a conduit I2 having a screw conveyor i3 for transporting materials such as cement longitudinally of the conduit and which feeds said material through an opening closed by the gate valve it, to a hopper it joining at its upper end with said conduit it so that the gate valve ltfserves to close the opening between the conduit and hopper to shut off the supply of material thereto. The hopper has an arcuate bottom wall it and a transversely extending partition il providing a circular wall for the impeller it positioned centrally of the wall and fixed to the shaft 2li. Said shaft is journalled in bearings ill fixed to end plates 22 suitably secured to the hopper l5 and has connection to the electric lmotor 23 supported on bracket 2li which providesl means for rotating said impeller. 'lin-addition to the impeller iii the feeder includes a plurality of paddles or propellers 2h hired to shaft, til on the respective sides of the lmpeller andwhich are accordingly rotated by said shaft to .agitate the material in the hopper and propel the same toward the impeller which in turn forces the material into a main discharge port 26, Figure i0, and an auxiliary discharge port 2li.

The housing designated in its entirety by 2t, to which is connected a pipe il@ for dust removal, supports the hopper l5 on the upper wall thereof and as the discharge ports of the feeder extend through said wall the same supports the operating means for the valves closing said ports. As more particularly shown in Figure l0, the discharge port 26 is closed by member t@ carried by lever 3| secured to the pivot stud 32 extending upwardly through the wall of the closure 28 and being journalled by boss33. The upwardly projecting end of stud 32 has the arm 34 xedly secured thereto and which is connected byl vlink \35 with piston rod 36 operating within the air cylinder 31.` A projectioniiilv on arm 34 contols its travel by means of lthe stops 40., The compressed air supply line -43 is provided with a valvecontrolled by the solenoid 44 so that compressed air admitted through pipe 45 leading tothe air cylinder 31 is controlled through the energization of theI solenoid, the operation of which will be more particularly described in connection with the wiring diagram of Figure 11. Itgwill be understood, however, that admission of air under pressure to cylinder 31 will rotate f member 24 and lever 3| in a direction clockwise to open the discharge port 28.

'Below the bracket 2l and supported on platform 55 is a balance beam designated in its en- 5 tirety by 56, having ayoke 51 rotatably supporting a weighing bucket 58 within the housing 28. Qn the end of the beam opposite bucket 58 is a container SII rotatably supported in much the same manner as the bucket and which is filled l with any suitable material to provide 'a balance for the material delivered to the weighing bucket. The main section of beam 56 comprises side members 6| and 82 having secured at a point substantially equi-distant from the bucket and l container a housing 63 closed by top member El. The side members to the rear of the container are joined by plate 65 and at the end adjacent yoke B1 they are Joined byfthe plate lll, which has suitably secured thereto a bearing I1 rotatably supporting shaft 88 having the yoke 5l keyed to its outer end. Shaft 6l extends through the housing 6I, being journalled by bearings Il and 1I secured to the side walls of the housing.

A pinion l2 is keyed to the portion of shaft 68 within the housing, Figure y5, and has meshing engagement with rack 13 having a reduced portion .1I mountedI in bearing 1I provided in Vthe base wall of the housing and a reduced portion 'I8 which passes through the top wall closing the housing. The air cylinder 11 encloses the upwardly projecting end 'I6 and is suitably secured as by bolts 1l to wall i4. The end 'Il carries a piston III which is caused to reciprocate within the cylinder when air under pressure is admittea to supply pipe u. when the air 1s exhausted the piston is forced upwardly by the coil spring 82 confined between the piston and wall M. It will be observed that this section of 'piston 8l will reciprocate rack 13 causing rotation of shaft Il andthe weighing bucket 5I to dump the materials from the bucket. 'I'he extent of rotation oi' shaft I8 upon full movement of the piston Il is substantially' 180 degrees so that the bucket rotates from an upright position, where the materials are fed to the bucket bythe feeder above described to an inverted position where materials will be delivered to bag filling apparatus to be presently described.

As shown in Figures 5 and 6 the side members BI and B2 have secured thereto the brackets u which receive the threaded screws Il held in adjusted position by locking nuts. Brackets 8l also receive yoke members 85 which are vertically slidable .on their respective brackets, being located in desired vertical position by the screws M. An insert I6 is removably held in each member 85 byvscrews 81, the insert having a V- shaped notch as shown. The supports 88 are bifurcated at their upper end for receiving the member 90 which provides a knife edge fitting within the notch in its respective insert 8i' to frictionlessly balance the beam Ii. For preventing lateral movement of the beam and attached supporting structure the supports Il have secured to` their outside .surface the plates 9| which receive threaded screws 93, the said screws being in alignment with the fulcrum for the balance beam and having 'contact with plates 84 suitably secured to brackets l2. Adjustment of the threaded screws 93 will operate tocenter the beam with respect to the supportsI and the fulcrum provided thereby and will also prevent lateral movement of the beam while allowing free pivotal movement of the bearn on the knife edges provided by the members 90.v Projecting upward- 1y from platform 55 are a plurality of stops, the forward stop being located for alignment with plate 66 limiting the downward movement of the beam, while the rear stops 96 are adapted to contact side members 6I and i2 of the beam to limit downward movement of the rear end and conversely, upward movement of the forward end.

The material is delivered by the weighing bucket 58 to an impeller 8B, Figure '7, keyed to shaft 99 which projects through the bottom plate |00 secured by bolts ||l| to the base flange of the housing 28 and projecting upwardly within the base portion formed by the tapering walls |02 of the housing. A feeder plate |03 having a number of bent blades is ilxedly secured to the upwardly projecting end of shaft 88 and operates to break the fall of the material discharged from the bucket 5l, part of the material passing between the blades of the plate and the remaining material passing between the plate and the walls. The pair of upstanding knives IM, secured to opposite blades of the plate |03, cut into the material along the walls and keep the same agitated so that the material is eventually supplied to the impeller 98. By thisV structure the material is delivered to the impeller in a uniform manner and rtherefore the discharge of the material through port |20 is accordingly more uniform. The base plate ||I|l is also protected against the abrasive action of the material by liner Ill.

Also suitably secured to the base of the housing 1 which is provided with a thrust bearing ||2 located between the pinion and an adjustable collar lll. Pinion meshes with spiral gear III keyed to the vertical shaft $2, the upper portion of theshaft being journalled' by bearing III secured to the bottom surface of plate |00 and bearing IIB secured to the base of casing IIB.

A thrust bearing -||1 is also provided for this shaft, being located below gear III and between said gear and an adjustable collar III. Thestructure just described journals shaft 0l for rotation on a vertical axis so that the material delivered to the impeller 9B will be discharged through the horizontal port |2|l which connects tangentially with the base of the housing 2i.

Journalled in bearings i 2| provided by the enclosure |01 and`also having reciprocation within said bearings is a shaft |22 having flxedly aecured to one end the bag holder |22. The central portion of the shaft is provided with teeth |24 and the right hand end projects from the enclosure Illl, being housed by the tube |25. 'Ihe air cylinder |26 act'uates a rack bar |21 having meshing engagement with teeth l2# on the shaft |22 and rotating said shaft when air under pres-Y sure is admitted to said cylinder. A second air cylinder |28 actuates a link` III which operates the pivoted lever ill connecting at its upper end with shaft I 22. Admission of air to cylinder |28 will thereforecause rotation of lever |3| and reciprocation of the shaft to locate the bag holder |23 outwardly from the position shown in Figure l. This outward motion of the bag holder will free the bag of the discharge port |2l, whereupon the same can be rotated, which is accomplished by operation of air cylinder |26. Simultaneously with this rotation the shaft is reciprocated in an opposite direction to move the bag holder inwardly, the result of`the combined movements being to discharge the bag |28 from the holder |23 onto a conveyor belt |32 supported by rollers 133, which transports the bag to the desired locas tion.

The bag holder 123 has a bottom member |35 yieldingly supported from the side members by 'the resilient coil springs |35 so that the bottom is movable with respect to the sides and yieldingly supports the bag |29. Said bottom member carries an electric motor 136 having a rotor shaft on which is fixed anunbalanced weight |31 so that rotation of the rotor shaft at high speed, will result in vibrating the base member 134. Constant vibration of 'the bag 129 by means o the above Vibrator, or by other suitable vibrating means, during the time the cement ls being delivered thereto settles the cement within the bag and makes it possible to :dll the bag to the top with the proper weight of material.

The operation of the present weighing device will be better understood by reference to Figure ii which shows the wiring diagram therefor. Electric power is supplied by the lines designated P and which are suitably connected through a start and stop switch |38 to conductors |39 leading to the lines L1 and-Lz, respectively. A conductor Md connects the line L1 to a contact HH carried by the balance beam 56, as clearly shown in Figure 4. A lever |42 is suitably supported in position above and properly spaced from contact Uli when said end of the beam is down, the lever providing an armature for the electro-magnet 153 and being adapted to engage contact |41 upon upward movement of said end of the beam, A conductor 141i connects the armature lever with one end of the electrournagnet, said other end of the electrovmagnet, namely, M5, having connection with line L2, as shown in the wiring diagram. When the materials fed-to bucket 5S by lthe feeder equal the predetermined weight for which the balance beam has been set the end carrying contact 14| will move upward into engagement with the armature lever |42 which will close the circuit between lines L1 and La, energizing the electro-magnet 143, which imme-1 diately attracts the armature lever, lifting the 'same out of engagement with contact Mi, The lever therefore does not interfere with the accuracy of the weighing operation. As will be clear from an inspection of the wiring diagram, energization of the electro-magnet M3 will cause'the contacts |46 and |41 to close, the former connecting the electro-magnet to lines L1 and Lz through the conductors |48, |49 and the conducn tor |45. Thus electro-magnet |43 remains energized even though 'the balance beam should move out of engagement with the armature lever Thev contact |41 closes the circuit to the relay 158i, The energization of said relay actuates a plurality of contacts, namely, a normally closed switch |5| and a pair of normally opened conn tacts |52 and |53. Opening contact 15| will break the circuit to solenoid M, which as'l has been previously described, controls the admission of compressed air to the air cylinder 31` and deenergization of this solenoid will close the discharge port of the feeder, Closing ofV contact |52 will close the circuit to the electric bulb 154, causing the same to light, which bulb is located to the outside of the housing 28 to indicate to the operator the scale has completed the weighing of a load. The normally open contact |53 is likewise closed by energization of the relay and the circuit including said contact is utilized for purposes which form no part oi the present invention.

With the parts in the position above described the bucket contains a quantity of material of predetermined weight which holds the same in readiness ior discharge to the bag filling means. When the operator has placed an empty bag within holder |23 and suitably located the discharge port |2|l within the bag he clamps the bag to the discharge portlby manually actuating the bag clamp |19. The clamp connects with an air cylinder Hsu and can be actuated automaticallir by a valve admitting air to the cylin der. The operator then operates the air cylinder 11 in a like manner, causing rotation of the shaft 68 and the weighing bucket to discharge the materials to the impeller 98 which operates as described to deliver the material to iill the empty bag. Rotation of the weighing bucket for the dumping operation actuates contacts 156 and 157|, the former breaking the circuit to electromagnet lili-i, deenergizing said electro-magnet and allowing the armature lever to descend to its initial position where it will be supported by stop |58 and actuation of the latter contact open ing the circuit, including conductor |55 and the solenoid Ml, so that the discharge ports of the feeder can not be opened when lthe 'bucket is not in upright position. When the bucket isreturned to upright position the contacts are closed and therefore both circuits are returned to normal. The closing of contact 156 does not energize the electrcwmagnet M3 since the armature lever has dropped and contacts i145 are open. However, the closing of Contact I5? does energize the feeder vsolenoid 4d, causing the ports to open and feeding of the material to bucket 58 to begin, since the relay 150 was deenergized by the return ci? the armature lever and contact was accordingly closed. A weighing operationvtakes place while a bag is being filled by impeller 98 so that the bucket 58 is ready to be dumped by the time the operator has removed the filled bag and placed in position an empty bag.

The invention is not to be limited to or by details of construction of the particular embodi ment thereof illustrated by the drawings, as various other forms of the device will of course be apparent to those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the claim.

I claim:

In weighing apparatus for iinelydivided mate-s rials, the combination with feeding means having'a discharge port through which material is delivered, a closure for said port, electro-magnetic means for controlling the closing and opening movements of said closure, a balance beam located below the feeding means and having a rotatable shaft supporting a bucket below the discharge port, contacts associated with said balance beam and included in the circuit to the electromagnetic means whereby said means is energized and deenergized in response to the movements of the balance beam, and a pressure cylinder carried by the balance beam for rotating said bucket from an upright to a dump positlonl,

- ADOLPH G. CARLSON. 

